Autodesk is offering schools and universities in Australia and New Zealand free access to its suite of design software and creativity apps, in an education program that it claims is valued at more than AU$25 million.

Preparing for the NBN is far and away the last priority for Australian IT managers, according to survey findings that suggest they're more concerned about finding the skills to support BYOD, mobility and cloud rollouts.

A proclivity for teaching web-design skills over hard-core data science will leave Australia struggling to meet rapidly increasing demand for business intelligence and big-data specialists, the local head of R&D with Dell Software has warned.

Open source has had a mixed reception in Poland's public sector, with some government agencies actively blocking efforts to increase uptake of the software. But the situation could be set for a reversal, after changes in the education sector.

Estonia's ProgeTiiger project aims to prevent the country's IT skills shortage worsening in future by teaching some of its youngest citizens how to get to grips with tech and code. The initiative has proved so popular, it's hoped local IT companies will step in to finance it.